The start of the 2026-27 NHL season is a little more than a month away, and there are still a few big storylines that still need to be settled around the league.
Let’s talk about some of them…
The Red Wings are definitely not the worst team in the league, but this is still a pretty chaotic situation where things are looking quite grim from the outside.
They have not really done much to meaningfully improve a roster that has proven time and time again it is not good enough to make the playoffs or be a contender.
They still have $19 million in unused salary cap space.
The Yzer-plan has officially come to an end with general manager Steve Yzerman being moved elsewhere in the organization, while ownership seems to be taking its sweet time finding a replacement.
One of their top young players, defenseman Simon Edvinsson, remains unsigned as a restricted free agent and has nobody to negotiate a new contract with at the moment. The longer that drags out into training camp, the worse that is going to be for the team, himself and his development.
They still have the Dylan Larkin situation lingering over everything as their captain, longest-tenured player, and one of their best players has a trade request that has yet to be fulfilled. The entire situation is also on hold until a new general manager comes in and figures out what to do with Larkin and whether or not his request will be honored.
But the latter point brings up another potential question and issue: What if a new general manager comes in and is able to convince Larkin to stay in Detroit?
Is that beyond the realm of possibility? Is it really a stretch to think that Larkin’s issue was more of an Yzerman issue than a Red Wings issue? While Larkin has never said anything specifically about his relationship with Yzerman, it’s pretty clear that he did not share the vision for the franchise, or the way the team was being run and constructed.
Now that somebody else is going to be running the show, there might be a door for Larkin to walk back in through. Even that brings its own set of potentially chaotic outcomes and questions, ranging from whether or not the Red Wings locker room will welcome him back as their captain, to whether or not the fan-base will be willing to do the same.
I imagine the former will be a far easier sell than the latter, and even then nothing cures issues in professional sports quite like winning.
They just need to find somebody that can actually turn them back into winners.
For now, and based on everything we know, Larkin’s trade request still stands, and still includes just four teams he is willing to accept a trade to, including the Vegas Golden Knights, Minnesota Wild, Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars. Minnesota remains the best potential fit from a hockey and positional standpoint, but the Wild simply do not have the type of trade assets or young talent that should interest the Red Wings.
None of the other three teams seem to be in any better of a situation.
Nothing about this seems fun for the Red Wings.